Open Mic: NFL Rules and Officiating

It’s time to get real: All of us are NFL fans with a pulse and an opinion; we all feel that we could do a better job than the paid officials. All of us have sat back while watching a game with great disdain for an official. The fact of the matter is that officials are human, and there will be the inevitable human error. Let’s not forget that referee’s make mistakes, too.

Regardless, we’re all fully prepared to match our knowledge of the game and our objectivity against an official’s bias. We’ve all played the games and feel that we know it like the back of our own hands.

Some feel that there isn’t a thing about the game we don’t know. Let’s be honest, how many times have you watched an NFL game and a wide receiver and cornerback are both pushing and shoving each other all the way down the field without either gaining an advantage but when the cornerbacks' feet get tangled with the receiver and he falls then you see the flag.

What’s the call? Prepare yourself, here are the rules governing tangled feet. If both of the players are looking for the ball, it is a no call. If neither of the players is looking for the ball, no call. If the receiver is looking for the ball and the defensive back isn’t, defensive pass interference. 

Did the officials just ruin a beautiful football moment? Did the official even ponder the beauty of the athletic competition between two highly skilled athletes? Probably not.

There are so many things the NFL officials have to keep an eye on and be aware of. Contrary to popular belief, the officials have a school to go to and graduate from before they can be officials and more schooling to reach the pro level. To say that it is a tough and thankless job would be an understatement.

Officials are a necessary evil and are actually the third team on the field.

It reminds me of an old TV commercial where a football official is being berated as he walks to the sidelines, appearing to ignore the noise. As he walks past the stands and the fans are letting him have it non-stop, with both barrels blazing, he is being called everything you can think of and some very creative new things. You hear the announcers talking to each other asking “How does he do it? How does he handle taking such abuse, there’s no way you can prepare for that!”

All of a sudden the next scene is him off the clock at his home, walking into the house and his wife lets him have it non-stop, with both barrels blazing, over not taking out the trash, not cutting the lawn, not cleaning out the garage etc, etc.

Taking this type of verbal abuse and not reacting is the epitome of showing true professionalism.

I’ll bet if you could somehow put together a group of 15 NFL fans and show them a DVD of 30 of the toughest calls the officials had to make from the previous season the fans would miss the majority of those same calls—if not more.

I would say that because we fans know the game, we know the majority of the rules, but where we fall short is the interpretation of the rules. 

This leads to so many other strange things that can only be described in certain scenarios; an offensive lineman grabs a defenders jersey, yanks it just briefly, then lets go.

What’s the call? If you said holding thinking a 'hold is a hold', you would be wrong. The grab wasn’t, well, impeding the player’s progress. 

What has me the most upset is that sometimes the outcome of games is decided by the officials. This type of thing shouldn’t happen. I feel the game should be decided by the players. The ridiculous Tuck Rule, illegal contact, catch or no catch, roughing the passer or the infamous No Call. The majority of the time we are pissed at the officials when in actuality it is with the Rulebook.

A rulebook mastered by an NFL employee that, on average, makes $27,000 a year at this job. The majority, if not all officials, have other professions, so officiating can be called a high paying second job. That doesn’t mean that these guys aren’t working to be the best and doing everything they can to get the call right.

I’ll be the first to tell you all I want to hear from an official is “first down”, “touchdown”, and the whistle to start the clock. But without the officials doing their job, the game would be reminiscent of playing ball in the park and having the game stopped for the proverbial and unnecessary group argument.

Mark this down as one man’s opinion. I feel that of all the professional sports the NFL has the best officiating, due to the tireless work put in by the seven man crew on the field, the assistance of Instant Replay and thorough weekly review.

A few changes that could be made to change the quality of officiating in sports. In the NFL 1) Address the maddening world of offensive holding 2) Address the use of intent in determining downfield calls. 3) Address the inconsistency of what constitutes a penalty. 4) The NFL needs a weekly radio or television program not exclusive to the NFL Network that would help explain the rules using game situations.

Due to this fact the NFL is the hardest game to officiate in sports.

What league has the worst officiating?

In my opinion, MLB has the worse officiating. This is due to the fact that the league refuses to change with the times. The technology, Instant Replay, is available to correct human error such as the recent missed home run call during the Mets vs. Yankees series.    

The toughest call to make in sports is the “Charge or Block call” while driving to the basket in the NBA.

I feel that the easiest game to officiate is the MLB.  The NBA is the sport that the officials play the greatest role in determining the outcome of a game.

My favorite officials are Mike Carey and Ed Hoculi.

Join me next time an official makes a call that you think was terrible and think of the rulebook and ask yourself: should I hate the referee or dislike his interpretation of the Rules?